The Universalist. [volume] (Chicago [Ill.]) 1884-1897, 1887-09-17
HUMAN NATURE.
BY REV. f. s. JENKINS, NJ. d.

Jesus made no war upon human
nature. He called the Jews "hypo-
critics." and "a generation of vipers. "
He told them they "compassed sea and
land to make one proselyte, and when
ye have made him, he is twofold more
the child of hell than yourselves" He
compared them to serpents, and said
they were "whited sepulchres." But in
no one instance did Jesus utter word
defaming human nature. He never
even intimated that in it's essence and
of itself human nature was fallen, cor
rupt, poor, or even weak. Nor did he
ever say that of its essence and nature
it needed to be changed.
Up to the time of his crucifxion,
not one Jew, nor even one of his disci-
pies had been converted to his messiah
ship. And yet Jesus said to his uncon-
verted disciples, ''Ye are the light of
the world" "Ye are the salt of the
earth" "Ye are of more value than
many sparrows." II am the vine, ye
are the branches" Nay more Jesus
went back near the beginning of our
nature and respected it. He said of a
little child, OF such is the kingdom of
heaven" And verify, Jesus knew what
was in man in the green tree as we'll as
in the dry.
Although he gave no definite science
of human nature, Jesus gave the best
theoretical and purest practical science
of human life the world has ever known.
In studying it, whether we look at the
theoretical or practical, we find every
item in honor of, and to the encour-
agement of our nature as it is repre-
sented in the newborn child.
We look also in vain, in all his Ian
guage, incisive and scathing as it was
in rebuking conduct and character, TO
find one word in the nature and mean
ing of fallen, corrupt, poor or weak,
applied to the innate nature of man.
These terms in their modern force and
meaning, are neither Christian nor ger
name in their application to our COM
mon nature. They may be, and are
true of both conduct and character !;
but of human nature they are defini
tive of great and mOnstrous falsehood;
and as to fallen human nature, all re-
corded time is a standing witness, that
by its fallen experiences our real nature
has not relapsed, but has made thereby
its footsteps more sure and steadfast
from age to age: However corrupt
conduct and character may have been
in the past, and are to-day, if Jesus
fairly represented the kingdom of
heaven by the little child's innocent
purity; and if what we ourselves, also,
know of childhood, be true, then it is
safe to affirm, that the perpetual stream
of new born infant life to our world,
has kept up and ever will continue
human nature in its original complete
ness and likeness to the Divine.
Man progresses in knowledge and
wisdom, in social, moral and spiritual
life; but human nature of itself and in
its elements changes never. Through
all the corruptions of conduct and char
acter known to our world, it holds its
own original nature, and ever will.
The most degraded races on all the
earth have this primitive golden rock
beneath their lowest humanity, which
will one day appear to the honor and
glory of our human nature. 1t is the
coming faith of human philosophy and
Christian philanthropy. Human nat
ure, in it's essence and of itself, is not
fallen, is not corrupt, is not impure,
poor nor weak. 1t was made in the
image of God, holds it's primitive me-
chanism and ever will.
AS to human nature being poor and
weak, if viewed in its proper light and
character, and also in its relations to
other beings and capacities, nothing on
earth in it's creation and organic struc-
ture, its unity and diversity, its height
and depth has been so richly and strong
ly endowed.
Christianity, and the discoveries, and
revelations of science, especially in the
last hundred years, have combined to
place human nature in the very focus
of light and wisdom, reflected to our
earth from the Divine Mind. They
prove, beyond all reasonable doubt,
that nothing short of Divine Wisdom
could have possibly fashioned it. See
the unity holding together the surpass-
ing wide diversity The intellectual,
animal, moral and spiritual, all wrap
ped up in one being, and endowed with
capacities for good and evil, virtue and
vice, freedom of will and choice, and
that being so made capable of reaching
the highest heaven and measuring the
depths Of the lowest hell.
Nor is this compound creation, and
these varied capacities and privileges in
condemnation of our nature, but are to
its glory and honor. Indeed, the an
imal department with all its appetites,
passions and prOpensities, appears to
have been the best anchorage to which
the moral and spiritual man could be
rooted to our world. Evidently Divine
Wisdom found nothing better with